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pluripotent

/plʊəˈɹɪpətənt/

Meanings
adjective
Able to develop into more than one mature cell or tissue type, but not all.

Examples :

"The stem cells in the early embryo are pluripotent, meaning they can develop into any cell type in the body, like a brain cell or a muscle cell, but not into a whole new organism like the placenta. "
medicine biology physiology

Related Words

Illustration brain

brain noun

/bɹeɪn/

The control center of the central nervous system of an animal located in the skull which is responsible for perception, cognition, attention, memory, emotion, and action.

"My brain was working overtime trying to remember all the vocabulary words for my spelling test. "

Illustration develop

develop verb

/dɛˈvɛ.ləp/ /dɪˈvɛ.ləp/

To change with a specific direction, progress.

"The students are developing their understanding of fractions in math class. "

Illustration organism

organism noun

/ˈɔː.ɡən.ɪ.zəm/ /ˈɔɹ.ɡən.ɪ.zəm/

A discrete and complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism.

"The single-celled organism was studied by the biology students in their science class. "

Illustration meaning

meaning noun

/ˈmiːnɪŋ/

(of words or symbols) The entity, perception, feeling or concept thereby represented or evoked.

"The meaning of the teacher's hand gesture was clear: "Pay attention." "

Illustration tissue

tissue noun

/ˈtɪsjuː/ /ˈtɪʃu/

Thin, woven, gauze-like fabric.

"The delicate tissue paper wrapped the fragile antique doll. "

Illustration placenta

placenta noun

/pləˈsɛntə/

A vascular organ in mammals, except monotremes and marsupials, present only in the female during gestation. It supplies food and oxygen from the mother to the foetus, and passes back waste. It is implanted in the wall of the uterus and links to the foetus through the umbilical cord. It is expelled after birth.

"The doctor examined the placenta after the baby was born to make sure it was healthy and complete. "

Illustration embryo

embryo noun

/ˈɛmbɹi.əʊ/ /ˈɛmbɹi.oʊ/

In the reproductive cycle, the stage after the fertilization of the egg that precedes the development into a fetus.

"The scientist studied the embryo to understand how the early stages of development occur. "

Illustration cells

cells noun

/sɛlz/

A single-room dwelling for a hermit.

"High in the remote mountains, the monastery offered simple cells to any hermit seeking a life of solitude and prayer. "

Illustration whole

whole noun

/həʊl/ /hoʊl/

Something complete, without any parts missing.

"The whole pizza was gone by the time dinner was over. "

Illustration muscle

muscle noun

/ˈmʌs.əl/

A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.

"Muscle consists largely of actin and myosin filaments."

Illustration mature

mature adjective

/məˈtjʊə/ /məˈt(j)ʊəɹ/

Fully developed; grown up in terms of physical appearance, behaviour or thinking; ripe.

"She is quite mature for her age."

Illustration early

early noun

/ˈɜː.li/ /ˈɝli/

A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.

"The early shift at the bakery starts at 4:00 am. "